The Reading

Mental Flashback...6 yrs.


Buzz. Buzz. Buzzzzzz.

I stopped by the mirror one last time to check my reflection. Hair messy and tousled without looking like I tried too hard...check...hip hugger jean skirt, ripped in all the right places, pulled too low on my hips..check...lip gloss, the right shade of clear, thick enough to stick to my hair, check! I ran down the yellowing tile stairs composing myself while trying not to trip on my new kitten heeled flip flops. Deep breath..and sly smile in place..."hey", I said nonchalantly and sweet, slowing sliding my oversized black Chanel sunglasses over my eyes. "Ready babe?", he said coolly as he threw his muscular arm over my bare suntanned shoulders. "Uh huh, where are you taking me?" "You'll see...something different." My excitement grew as the butterflies in my stomach felt more like the large black grackles in the movie The Birds, attacking my insides. I was enamored with this handsome arrogant man and damnit I wasn't going to let him know it!

We stopped on the corner of 7th Avenue South, a busy intersection with obnoxious horn blowing taxis and a sombrero wearing Mexican restaurant. "Hmmm" I thought...not so romantic. We turned the corner and he rang the buzzer on this little decrepit building. The windows were large and rimmed with a shiny gold metal. I glanced at the name on buzzer...Zena. "What the hell?!" "Yeesss!" screeched a raspy voice. "We're here for a reading" said arrogant man. We're at a psychic??...I thought of a reading I had once in the past, which was a complete load of crap, so I was a bit disappointed this was the wonderful outing he had planned for us today. I put on the sexiest smile I could pull off and hesitantly walked through the large wooden door he held open for me.

I looked around the small crowded room as we waited for Zena to make her entrance. The curtains blocked out most of the sunlight and the room was lit by musk smelling candles. There was a small table in the center of the room, with a crystal ball that had a strange glow about it. A chill ran down my spine even though the summer heat was creeping through the slightly cracked open windows. A movement in my peripheral vision caused me to jump, and I quickly glanced over my shoulder. There was a spiral staircase I hadn't noticed before with long flowy fabric gliding down. Slowly moving step by step, small feet with sparkling slippers moved towards us. It seemed as though we were both hypnotized. "How did you find me?", her voice was soft yet compelling. "A friend that I worked with on a film." cracked arrogant man. My lips sealed tight as I tried to find words, I coughed through my dry mouth trying to swallow. "What can I do for you then?" replied Zena.

He sat at the table across from the psychic wiping his palms against his khaki shorts. Zena began shuffling the cards with more skill than a vegas poker dealer. She layed them out in some specific order and began telling Mr. Arrogant what his future beheld. It's very hard for me to remember exactly what she said, but it was something along the lines of, " You will be a famous working actor, living in Los Angeles." Suprise I thought...where else do actors usually live other than NY or LA. I was not impressed and my nervousness began to subside. My mind drifted and daydreamed of the idealistic day we would have after we left this creepy place.

"Ahmm! Excuse me dear...are you ready?" "Oh! Sure!" I snapped out of my own visions of the day I hoped to come. She shuffled and layed out the cards in the same pattern she had done a few minutes before. I watched her gray eyes scan them as if trying to decipher their true meanings. "I see that you are also an actress...but this wasn't your original plan." "Something in the health care field?" "Yes, I was going to be a nurse." I replied. "This is something you would have done well with." "Sure, but I'm not doing that, so move on!" I thought. "I see 4 children in your future." "Ok..." I said...hoping she would move along with the good stuff, and stop scaring my boyfriend with visions of children. She then dropped the bomb..."You will reunite with a past lover that now resides in California." My heart stopped as I looked at Mr. Arrogant to see if he was listening. He watched with a smirk on his face as if nothing mattered other than his own fame and fortune to come. "I do not see you being the next Julia Roberts...you will work as an actress, but this is not what you will be recognized for." At that moment I was ready to flip those cards off the table and walk out the door with my CURRENT LOVER! "One more thing, she said...writing...this is what you will be recognized for...you will write something." How fabulously freakin' glamorous I thought! "Do you have any questions?" she asked. " No, no...thank you very much." I said as politely as possible. I grabbed my purse and headed for the door not looking back.

Mr. A and I walked back through the crowded streets of Manhattan to my Chelsea apartment. We discussed the readings and I laughed off what I had been told. He also agreed he would never leave the east coast and move to Cali. I sat home alone that night contemplating what I had been told, knowing that I shouldn't take it seriously...I mean it's just for fun, right? I've had many "fun" readings with friends since then...most of which I can't remember a word of what was said, but that day with Zena I cannot forget no matter how hard I've tried.

Today I live in Connecticut...married to my old lover from California. Mr. Arrogant is a working actor residing in California. I am writing...even if it is for my own entertainment...it is something I never thought I would do. I worked as an actress...and I gave it up...letting go of a future in that industry. Much more was said...most of it true...maybe it's all a conincidence. Before I moved from Manhattan I stopped by the little building that Zena lives in...but she was never available for another reading. I wanted to go once again...just to hear her tell me something different...or would she? I guess I may never know.